Zetterberg, Datsyuk help push Sharks to brink

May 5, 2007 - 10:46 PM

DETROIT (Ticker) -- Once again, the San Jose Sharks took the
lead. True to form, they were unable to keep it.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and two
assists and Tomas Holmstrom netted a tally and set up another as
the Detroit Red Wings overcame another deficit to post a 4-1
victory Saturday over the Sharks in Game Five of their Western
Conference semifinal series.

Mikael Samuelsson also scored for the Red Wings, who took a
three-games-to-two lead in the series. They can advance to the
conference finals for just the second time in eight seasons with
a triumph at San Jose on Monday.

"The series is not over at all," Detroit goaltender Dominik
Hasek said. "You could see in the third period, they were
trying to come back. They didn't score, but in their building,
it will be a tough game. Nothing is over at all."

"We like what we've done the last couple games," Detroit's Kris
Draper said. "We just want to keep this thing going. We've
still got to win the hardest game of the series."

The Sharks got out to 2-0 leads in three of the first four games
of the series but were able to hold on just once, losing a pair
of 3-2 decisions. They grabbed a 1-0 advantage less than five
minutes into this one, a disadvantage the Red Wings had no
trouble overcoming.

"Even though we're scoring the first goal, we're not holding on
to the lead very good," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "We've
got to address that and we've got to win two."

"It's not like we were late in the third like the other night,"
San Jose's Mike Grier said. "They made a good play and they got
a good bounce to tie it at 1-1. After that, they outplayed us
the rest of the game."

Just over three minutes into the second period, defenseman
Nicklas Lidstrom had his shot from the blue line blocked in
front. Holmstrom picked up the loose puck and slid a backhander
across the crease, and Zetterberg whacked it in from near the
right goalpost for his fourth goal of the playoffs and a 1-1
tie.

"I think we're jumping on the chances that we get," Lidstrom
said. "That's what you have to do in the playoffs. You don't
get many chances."

"The bad part about the first goal was that (defenseman) Kyle
McLaren had made the right play, but his stick broke," Sharks
coach Ron Wilson said.

A miscue by San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov late in the
session helped give Detroit the lead. The Red Wings cleared the
puck from their zone, banking it down the ice off the neutral
zone boards.

Nabokov came out to the hash marks and attempted to fire the
puck to his right but shot it right into Datsyuk, who gained
control and tucked it into the vacant net with 3:47 remaining
for a 2-1 edge.

"I tried to go straight. When he was ready to shoot the puck, I
just jumped," Datsyuk said. "He hit my stick. It was unlucky
for Nabby."

"A freak play," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "They're going
to happen. We just have to get back in the game after that."

Nabokov explained his thought process on the play.

"I came out, I saw my options," he said. "Obviously, I see
three guys coming. The one guy is taking the middle away. The
other guy is taking one side away and the other guy is right by
(defenseman) Matt Carle.

"I took my chances, and it wasn't good. If you don't come out,
it's going to be 2-on-none, 3-on-none. I took my chances and it
wasn't a good decision."

Hasek sympathized with his counterpart.

"I know it's a difficult situation," the six-time Vezina Trophy
winner said. "It's moving slowly to you. Pavel's coming and
he's a few feet from you. You have to play the puck.

"Pavel chose one side, and Nabokov chose the same side. ... It's
definitely a goalie's fault, but it's not an easy situation."

Despite admitting he made a bad play, Nabokov did not believe it
cost San Jose the game.

"It's 2-1 at that point," he said. "There's no way that we can
say, 'Oh, that's the reason why we lost.' We have to show the
character, we have to get better."

"He's played his heart out all series," San Jose defenseman
Scott Hannan said. "We know he's going to be there. He played
great tonight, made some saves for us, and we know he'll be
there in the next couple (games)."

The tally was the fifth in 11 games this postseason for Datsyuk,
who entered this year's tournament with just three in 42 career
playoff contests.

San Jose unraveled from there, taking a number of penalties
early in the third that led to a pair of power-play goals by
Detroit.

With Mark Smith in the box for hooking, Zetterberg held the puck
behind the Sharks' net before feeding Samuelsson, who blasted a
one-timer from the right faceoff dot past Nabokov at 3:46 for
his first career postseason tally and a 3-1 lead.

Less than three minutes later, Zetterberg again completed a pass
from behind the net, setting up Holmstrom for a tap-in from the
doorstep at 6:14 with Grier serving a goalie interference
infraction.

"They're one of the best lines in the league," San Jose captain
Patrick Marleau said. "Getting Holmstrom back has given their
team a big lift, moreso maybe than we thought. He's helped them
on the power play, just staying in front of the net and causing
trouble. We have to find a way to shut them down."

"We've got to realize the way we're getting these 1- and 2-0
leads and play that way the whole game," Wilson said.

Datsyuk notched the secondary assist on both tallies for
Detroit, which went 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

"Pav and Hank obviously have the ability to be
difference-makers," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

The Sharks, who were outshot, 14-4, in the middle period, opened
the scoring at 4:53. After carrying over the blue line, Grier
dished to Marcel Goc, who fired a wrist shot from the top of the
left faceoff circle just beyond the outstretched left leg of
Hasek.

Hasek finished with 23 saves for the Red Wings, who lost
defenseman Mathieu Schneider in the first period to what
originally was called a forearm injury. However, Babcock
divulged that the injury was much more serious.

"He's got a broken wrist. He's done," Babcock said. "There's
nothing you can do. I kind of expected to have (Niklas)
Kronwall, (Brett) Lebda and Schneider, but that's just life."

"(Schneider's) a big part of our game," Lidstrom added. "He's a
top-four defenseman who plays a lot of minutes. He's a big
part of our power play, so yeah, he'll be missed."

San Jose, which entered Game Five just 4-for-47 (8.5 percent) on
the power play this postseason, went 0-for-6 with the man
advantage.

"We haven't had poise on the points," Wilson said. "We have to
get shots through and take shots."